Comp board must hear new evidence on stroke claim
Reprints
Delaware’s Industrial Accident Board must consider new medical evidence on the causation of a masonry worker’s alleged work-related stroke, according to a ruling issued Thursday by the Superior Court of Delaware.
Enterprise Masonry employee Robert Edge, who in 2017 fell off of a scaffold onto the ground six to eight feet and later that day suffered a stroke while in surgery as a result of the fall, became disabled and is in a wheelchair as a result of the stroke, according to documents in Barrett Business Service, Inc., d/b/a Enterprise Masonry v. Robert Edge, filed in Georgetown Delaware.
The state board in 2018, upon hearing evidence regarding his unwitnessed fall and emergency room treatment, along with conflicting evidence on a previous fall and Mr. Edge’s high blood pressure, 2018, ruled in the worker’s favor. It ordered that the masonry company pay his outstanding medical expenses, $8,000 in attorney’s fees, and medical witness fees. The board also ruled that Mr. Edge would be placed on an open agreement for total disability beginning on the date of the work accident, according to documents.
On appeal, the company asserted that the law requires that it be allowed to present additional evidence on “the problematic issue” of medical causation, determining “that an additional medical expert was needed from a different medical specialty.” However, the board limited the company “to re-deposing the same medical expert it had used previously,” according to documents.
The state court remanded the issue, writing that “case law is clear” that the board “must permit new evidence on the problematic issue on remand. Here, the record shows that Employer requested permission to call new expert witnesses on the problematic issue (medical causation). Because the Board failed to permit new expert witnesses on causation when requested, it committed legal error.”
Read Next
-
Insurer not liable to cover spa customer’s stroke
Evanston Insurance Co. is not obligated to provide vicarious liability coverage to a spa owner for a customer’s stroke caused by one of her employees, says a federal appeals court in upholding a lower court ruling.
Related Stories
Most Read in Workers Comp
-
1. Zurich ordered to pay $80 million in suit over employee incentives
-
3. Marsh McLennan sees rate hikes slowing; reports revenue growth
-
4. Travelers sees rate hikes continue; Q1 profit up over 15%
-
5. DeSantis signs legislation prohibiting local workplace heat protections
-
6. AI not a ‘substitute,’ but can benefit insurance industry: Experts
